Namaste, Welcome to SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation), This week let me bring to your attention a story from a series of illustrated books for young people, ‘The Boy without A Name’  by Idries Shah. Among the many insights that this story introduces to children is the idea that it takes patience and resolve to achieve one’s goal in life.

This series published by Hoopoe books shares not only wonderful folk stories from a region not often represented in current children’s literature, but there is also an innate potential in them for supporting skills such as prediction, critical thinking and social/emotional development skills of demonstrating empathy and conflict resolution. Wonderful illustrations and Humor are an integral part of these books.

The Boy without a Name

Once upon a time, long, long, long ago, in a country far from here, there lived a boy who had no name, and you might ask, “Why didn’t he have a name?”

Well, it was like this.

On the day he was born, his parents were just about to choose a name for him when a very wise man came to the house.

“This is a very important boy,” he told them, “I am going to give him something marvelous one day, but I will have to give him his name first. So please don’t give him a name yet.”

“All right,” said his parents, “but when will he get a name?”

“I cannot say now,” replied the wise man, “but remember, he is a very important boy and you must be careful not to give him a name.”

So the parents called him “Benaam,” which means “Nameless” in the language of that country. For he was a boy without a name.

One day Nameless went to see his friend who lived in the next house. “Everybody has a name, and I would like to have one, too. Do you have a name you can give me?” he asked.

The other boy said, “I only have one name. It is Anwar. That’s my name, and I need it. If I gave it to you, what would I do for a name? Besides, what would you give me if I did give you a name? You haven’t got anything.”

“I’ve got a dream I don’t want. I could give you that,” said Nameless.

“But how can we find out how to get a name and how to pass on a dream from one person to another?” asked Anwar.

“I know,” replied Nameless, let’s go and ask the wise man!”

Now, the wise man knew everything, and fortunately he didn’t live very far away.

So Nameless and Anwar went to his house and they knocked on the door. As soon as he saw them, the wise man said, “Come in, Nameless and Anwar!” even though he had never seen them before.

“How did you know who we were?” they asked.

“I know many things. And, besides, I was expecting you,” said the wise man.

“Sit down here, and I’ll see what I have in my magic boxes,” he continued.

So the boys sat down on cushions beside the wise man.

And he took up a small box, saying, “This is a magic box, and it’s absolutely full of all kinds of names. You just see.”

And when he opened the lid of the box, the boys could hear all the names in it.

There were all kinds of names. Names, names, names. Names saying themselves, names saying other names. Names saying names from all the countries of the world.

And the wise man picked a name out of the box and handed it to Nameless, and the name jumped onto his hand, ran up his arm and sprang onto his shoulder, and then it went into his ear and right into his head.